she married in 2008. she confirmed her pregnancy on nbc's t"today" show. former president george w. bush and his wife laura calling in about the prospect of becoming grandparents. >> i'm fired up, looking forward to it. i'm excited for jenna and henry, and you know, it's -- i can barely contain the news when i found out. so now i can tell all my buddies. i'll be the guy in the ford 250 driving around the ranch. we'll be at the ranch with the kids. >> they're looking forward to that, too. >> where do you come down on spoiling grandchildren, to spoil or not spoil? >> oh, definitely to spoil. >> kind of like we did our daughter. >> that's a great reaction. jenna is due sometime next spring. so a nice little holiday gift to that family. congratulations to them. thanks for watching. "newsroom international" starts

right now. welcome to "newsroom international." we're going around the world in 60 minutes. here's what's going on right now. president obama no longer sees bashar al assad as the real representative of the syrian people. the rebels fighting to throw overthrow assad are legitimate enough and organized enough to act as a bonafide government. several recognize the opposition fighters as the people's true representatives. >> the syrian opposition coalition is inclusive enough and representative enough of the syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the syrian people in opposition to the assad regime. >> we want to bring in holly from cnn international. what does that mean exactly when he's recognizing now the opposition as the true,

legitimate representatives of the people who are there? >> essentially, it's what he said. al assad is not the representative of the syrian people. the u.s. and other than western countries have called on bashar al assad to step down. concretely it is a diplomatic move. it was expected. what it doesn't change and this is what the rebels and the opposition want is whether or not they get more money and more arms. they're saying in their meeting with the friends of morocco group, friends of syria group in morocco right now. they say recognition is fine, but we want weapons and more money. right now they're not getting it from the west. >> the u.s. is not give them either one of those things. do they completely sever ties with assad? how does that relationship change, if at all? >> that relationship has been essentially marabund for the last several months. there mab no ambassador there are and they're sanctions impose on the regime and there's no polical relationship with the

regime of al assad with the united states. it doesn't change anything on that level. that means we're inching closer and closer to this government in exile, if you will, as being recognized by france, the uk, turkey, gulf cooperation council countries and now the united states. >> this is going to complicate things, because now at the same time we have this state department saying that a small portion of the rebels are terrorists. they are al qaeda. how does that complicate the situation? the u.s. is trying to support the rebels. the president says this is a legitimate organization, the government, and yet, you have terrorists inside on the ground as part of the rebel forces. >> these jihadi fighting forces are making the rebel advances by the way. when you hear them made in and around damascus and a big army base outside of aleppo overtaken by rebels, these are the fighting forces with training in iraq, the jihadis are foreigners. it's a small component but

making advances. the head of the opposition group is criticizing the u.s. for designating this rebel group as a terrorist force perhaps he doesn't want to be seen as a puppet of the united states. by the way, the u.s. is now inviting the head of the opposition, the political opposition to washington. it is a complication. i think rebels on the ground and the political opposition wished that the u.s. hadn't done it so soon. >> what does this mean for the people? >> well, for the -- i think the people, as we were hearing and i know you will speak with arwan damon this is a fighting force to thank for rebel advances and some are saying the u.s. shouldn't have done this. others are very worried that once the regime falls, who is going to want control? it's going to be the jihadist groups. we'll see. >> thank you, hala. something triggered a new democracy and the movement against the assad regime and that's this. believable reports that the

syrian military was possibly getting ready to use chemical weapons against the rebels. everyone, even russia warned syria not to do it. now you see this exclusive to cnn. our camera crew inside syria got dangerously close to a chemical weapons production plant. the syrian government doesn't us to see this. they make that very clear. we want you to watch this report from arwa damon. >> reporter: in most of these villages we don't dare stop. while no longer fully controlled by the government, the regime spies still lurk, and we're sneaking our way towards a facility the government most certainly does not want us to see. a site that multiple sources on the ground say is where the assad regime produces chemical weapons called the scientific research facility. to the southeast of aleppo lies the town of al scattered safari. on the outskirts a sprawling

factory manufacturing anything from containers to long-range missiles. this is as close as we can get before we hear an aircraft overhead and quickly leave. to the southeast of that, aaccoacco according to our sources, is the scientific veerch fa simt. we can see the outer most perimeter of the general research facility and the fighters are telling us it's amongst the most heavily guarded areas where they're operating the village right below it filled with government loiyal loyalists. this is as far taz as we can dw. task bid his commanders with ice he lated and not aattacking it. the regime might take extreme actions if we try to assault, so we're just militarily choking it off he tells us. on all sides it is surrounded by rolling hills.

we're being escorted by a defective soldier who worked on the inside and a rebel fighter from the area. we've agreed not to reveal their identities. at one point between the two hilltops, a man-made barrier. we have to be very careful filming through here, but visible on the side of the mountains are what rebel fighters with us are telling us were the former positions that government troops used to occupy. since the free syrian army moved into in area, government forces have pulled further and closer to the facility itself. this man was recently captured by the rebels. he says he led a unit whose job was to patrol part of the perimeter. artillery units are positioned on on the hilltops. he agreed to be interviewed if we disguised his identity and his voice. he says that soldiers like him were constantly searched. their calls monitored, forbidden

from seeing people that entered the main building. they arrived surrounded by armed guards concealed from sight. it was even forbidden for us to ask about it. if we did, we were punished he tells us. they were under orders to shoot to kill anyone who approached, even a civilian within 300 meters. he says that around five months ago regular employees stopped arriving. and what i overheard is that those who were allowed to leave were syrians, and those inside were foreigners. we saw large quantities of food still being delivered, he says. defectors have previously told cnn that iranian scientists have often worked here. there's no way to confirm that. portions of the complex are underground, the hilltops have tunnels as well guarded, we are told, by up to 5,000 soldiers. the fear of chemical weapons has

further traumatized people. in aleppo this doctor says he began requests precautionary supplies six months ago. some atrofine has arrived but no chemical suits. you're going to make your own chemical substituondemhemical s? >> yes, we have two pieces for chemical suits. >> you're going to make your own? >> yeah, exactly, because we want chemical suits but we couldn't. >> at secret sites around the city, he says, medical teams whim be provided with atrofine and training in case government forces resort to chemical weapons. in reality people can do little more than pray that syria's war doesn't lead to such a catastrophe. arwa damon is live safely across the syrian border in turkey.

that's incredible reporting here. give us a sense about whether or not you know chemical weapons have been moved from that site and just how dangerous people think that site is. >> reporter: people think that it is incredibly dangerous, and just everyone we have been speaking to has no doubt in their mind that the assad regime will, in fact, eventually resort to the use of chemical weapons. that said said, since we were at the site a few days ago, we do not know if anything new has been moved from it. one of the brigade commanders we were talking to said in the past weeks and months they believe that the assad regime has in fact moved material from there to the coastal region. that is where the assad government most certainly does still have a pretty strong grip on the situation on the territory. it's an area where the assad government does enjoy a fair amount of support, suzanne. >> what do you people think about the fact it's so close to

where they live, those chemical weapons? >> reporter: they find it to be utterly terrifying. not just people who live in the vicinity but every single person we come across as the news that there had been perhaps more movement on the chemical front begans spreading through aleppo, we heard more and more people speaking about it. this is a population largely helpless in the face of trying to protect itself against bullets and bombs. they most certainly cannot do much should it come to a chemical attack, and you heard the doctor there. they are having to make their own chemical suits because they don't have the necessary equipment, the materials coming in to them from the outside. >> all right. arwa damon in turkey. thank you very much. i appreciate it. excellent reporting. north korea just sent a message to the world when they launched this rocket into space. it happened last night. we'll look at what it means for u.s. security. richard branson is known for owning an airline, fwut in my interview with him he talked

about how space travel may be reality sooner than later. are you feeling lucky today, 12-12-12. a repeating triple date like this won't come around for nearly another century. how are you going to celebrate? chad myers is here to show us how folks mark this around the world. chad, i'm excited. i really am. look at our clocks. we're getting really, really close to 12:12. >> and 12 seconds. we can go farther that be that. >> we're doing it live. brandon and jamie are getting married live in las vegas. they're going to have a bunch of wedding all day, suzanne. >> i understand it's lucky for folks to give birth. people are having -- there's a clock. 12:12. almost, almost. 12: 12:12:12. >> we're still here. >> make a wish and celebrate. >> indonesia got married here.

we have pictures from singapore. lots of weddings. i get married on 2-2-02 and that wasn't very lucky. here's a guy in france trying to synchronize his watch. he missed it by 25 seconds because he had 38 seconds at the bottom. even here a mass in lithuania here a couple hours ago. it's national sound check today. it's check one, two, one, two. >> i get it. so this is considered to be a lucky day for a lot of people. how long before another one of these? >> you have to wait for january 1, 3001. >> okay. it's going to be a while. i won't be here for that one. >> we have to count on other folks to bring that in. all right. thanks, chad. we're going to take a quick break. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core,

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. the word is reactsing to a move by north korea. today pyongyang launched a long rail rocket defying the u.s. and other nations that called on north korea to cancel the launch. here's animation of how the rocket looks soaring into space.

the north american air defense space said it put an object into orbit. north korea says it's a scientific satellite, but the u.s. believes the launch is a cover for testing ballistic missile technology. a senior administration official says the u.s. will wush for a u.n. security council resolution condemning the loss as well as possible sanctions. members began meeting behind closed doors about an hour ago. joining us is former new mexico governor bill richardson. gooz to see you. you're a former u.n. ambassador to the. does it concern you? >> it does concern me. my hope was that the new leader in north korea, kim jong-un, would pick a different path than his father, that he would be more moderate. i think still there's possibilities of dialogue. i'm not sure when. i think he did this for domestic reasons. the last missile launch failed.

he only has one year in leadership. he wants to show his people that despite their economic problems, they have military and missile technolo technology, that they're a major power in space, militarilmilita buttress themselves with the north korean military. it was mainly a domestic shot he took, but also he said to the world, you have to deal with me. i'm a major player. >> so it's for domestic audience largely here. should the united states and should others be worried this launch could mean there's a capability to hit the western coast of the united states? is that a concern what actually was accomplished here beyond the politi politics? >> it was a violation of missile launches, number one. so there will be action by the security council. i don't think they have the capability to reach the united states right now, but obviously, their missile technology, their intercontinental ballistic

missile technology is developing. i mean, it's developed a lot since a year ago. so it should be of concern. the issue, i think, suzanne, is what do we do about it? we've tried engagement with them before. we've tried additional sanctions, and sanctions are probably going to happen from the european union, possibly more from the u.n., but almost every sanction is on north korea. i think the six-party countries, the united states, south korea, japan, russia, china. china is a big player here, because they have the most influence. they have to figure out how to deal with this new leader. i mean, they've got nuclear weapons. they've got missile technology, but they're also very poor. they're also possibly their sending a trial balloon saying, we want to bargain. i don't know, because very few people have met this new leader and which direction he wants to go is still uncertain. >> so in a lot of all that, i

mean, what do you recommend if you were actually advising president obama at this time to do? people don't know who he is. he, obviously, is trying to do the muscle flex here. the six-party talks have been a failure. they basically ended back in 2009. what would you recommend? >> well, i'm not privy to their deliberations. what i would recommend is, first, you do have to fulfill obligations under the security council. there was a violation of missile launching. but i think a more creative way to deal with him needs to happen, and it has to solve south korea, japan, china and us principally. maybe engagement, finding somebody to talk to them, sending an envoy there or meeting an envoy halfway or within the six-party talks get them going again. talk to them. i'm not saying give them anything, but, again, i think

he's doing this for domestic reasons. the new leader. maybe after he's already shown that he is firmly in charge he'll be ready to deal. you can't just sanction and isolate and punish them. that hasn't worked. you've got to deal with them, but realistically. you don't have to reward them. it means a new kind of diplomacy and engagement. >> bill, final question here. who do you think would be the most effective in actually dealing with the new leader diplomatically? do you think it's the russians? >> no. it's the chinese. the chinese have a lot of leverage on north korea, but north korea's very independent. the chinese don't call the shots on north korea even though they give them food and fuel and a lot of other assistance. this is an independent, unpredictable country. so china is still the best lever. it means a creative approach by

the six-party countries. i know the six-party talks have fizzled, but somebody has to find a new way to deal with this threat. it is there. >> all right. bill richardson, thank you very much. i appreciate it. it's become highly profitable, this crime. authorities in asia and south africa are busting traffickers smuggles rhino horns. while it makes big news in other countries, it's not something americans hear about every day. up next, we look at this growing problem and what's being done to stop it. you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro.

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they have signed a deal to stop the illegal slaughter of rhinos. despite an international ban on poaching, at least 618 rhinos have been killed this year in south africa aalone. that's double the number of slaughter than a year ago. phillippe, tell us about this deal. what is this going to do to change things here? >> well, suzanne, this is a

challenge. the illegal trade in wildlife products is a challenge growing expo tentally. it's worth 7 to $10 billion every year. this memorandum of understanding is, i think, a sign that nations are starting to wake up to the very serious gravity of the situation. >> you've got vietnamese hunters since 2003 being paid an estimated $22 million to kill rhinos in south africa. that's an awful lot of money here. how do you make a pact between these two countries and have an impact on something that is that lucrative in trade? >> well, there's lots of different ways. of course, rhino horn is ending up oftentimes as a form of traditional medicine, so part is about educating buyers, educating individuals to be more sophisticated in understanding there's no scientific basis for rhino horns being a medicinal cure for anything at all. also, understanding that the

trade is international. here in los angeles it's a major hub for the trade in rhino horn. illegal crime syndicates, it supports militias and destabilizes nations. it's both an issue at the source. it's a consumer education awareness. if there's no demand there's no supply. we all need to come together. >> phillippe, what can we do, just as normal folks, everyday people if we want to stop something like this? >> well, as i said, it's a big consumer issue. what will surprise many people to know is that the united states is probably the second largest destination for illegal wildlife products, tigers, ivory, rhino horn. in many cases there are even websites here in the united states that cater, fashion websites, antique websites that cater to the illegal ivory trade, for example. lots of rhino horn here in los angeles. it's an issue of law enforcement, increased efforts in law enforcement and secretary clinton has said this is a major national security issue and also individuals understanding that

they shouldn't be purchasing these items. >> yeah. these pictures are really kind of disturbing there. i understand it's quite brutal how they do that. give us a sense -- >> it's horrific. oftentimes they don't kill the animals. they sedate them and have high-powered rifles and night vision and attack helicopters. it funds terrorist groups and affect international security. so it really is a global challenge. fourth in international illegal trade behind narcotics, counterfeiting and human slavery. >> thank you, phillippe. i understand you also have something else you're working on, a children's book on saving oceans. what is this about? >> that's right. this is a book called "make a splash." it's a follow-up to an award winning guide for teens. it's about helping elementary kids understand how to protect the oceans and waterways. 2.5 million pounds of plastics enter the ocean every hour. this book helps kids understand things like plastics, what they can do to cut out plastic use in

their home. how they can make a positive difference. >> thank you, phillippe. appreciate it as always. richard branson looking to go to the moon and beyond. he's trying to make space travel a reality for everybody. so i asked him how much is this all going to cost? the answer next. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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billionaire businessman richard branson is thrilled. he's got a new partner in the skies. delta airlines is buying a 49% stake in branson's virgin atlantic airlines. singapore airlines owned it before. the "$360" million deal will give delta a bigger share to the new york to paris flights. he tweeted the partnership will allow virgin to give british airways and the atlantic airlines a run for the money. he's not afraid to take auto competition or a controversial issue, including the

legalization of drugs which he supports. in my sit-down with him i asked him about the recent votes in colorado and washington state that legalize marijuana use. here's how he weighed in. you made some news about two states that are legalizing marijuana. you believe this eventually is inevitable and will happen. tell me why. >> well, i'm positive on the global commission on drugs. we spent two years examining it. it's absolutely apparent to it in the 50 years since the united nations got together to create the war that it's failed. so what the commission is saying is please try different approaches. on an immediate basis please stop locking up our children, our brothers and sisters. that's not the way to help them if they have a drug problem. put them through drug rehabilitation, get them well

again, and countries that are doing that are having tremendous success in reducing the problem. >> if you're the new president in mexico now who is saying he's willing to look at different solutions here, there's a lot of bloodshed, the cartels. it's a very bloody business. legalization, you believe, is the answer? that that's going to turn the violence into something that's not as chaotic and siviolent? >> let's switch the clock back to prohibition of alcohol. when alcohol was prohibited in america, al capone and the gangsters existed. and all that money went into the underworld. people were being arrested for drinking alcohol. they were being put in prison. the united states realized that was not a sensible option, and the moment they legalized it, the taxes went into health and education. people stopped getting arrested and put in prison. the underworld went away.

you know, i think the global drug commission believes that if you take the same approach to say something like marijuana, it's likely to work. what they're saying is that let certain states experiment with it. let's see what happens. we don't believe that, you know, the health issues of the public will be any worse than they currently are, because people could readily get marijuana any way, almost anywhere. >> let's talk about your expertise in space. what is your next big adventure? are you still intent on going to space and leading space tourism? when does that happen? >> i said i wanted to get high, didn't i? >> you want to get high, real high. >> i want to get real high. we're very, very close. >> what do you by real close? >> i would be disappointed if we don't go to space next year. so we're that close.

the spaceships are finished now. the motherships are finished. the in new mexico it's all beautiful and ready to go. we're just finishing our rocket tests, and you know, we are going to do lots of rocket tests before we send people up here. by the end of next year we should be ready to go. >> where will it go? will it take you to the moon? is that the idea? >> well, there's no limit to the sky, and we're going to start with suborbital flights and go to orbital flights and then we go to deep exploration flights. i'm sure we'll drop by the moon on the way. >> you're very optimistic. >> if you don't dream, you don't achieve anything. >> we've been waiting for a decision from the federal reserve about whether or not it will provide more stimulus for the u.s. economy. the decision is now in. we'll go to ali joining us live. what do we know? >> the fed is extending the quantitative easing plan, qe-3.

there was a part of the plan that was supposed to end at the end. month. the fed has said starting in january when that other plan ends the operation twist they're going to invest $45 billion a month in buying bonds, longer-term bonds. the effect of that is going to be to keep longer term sfw rates low. you know that you can get a mortgage for a historically low level. the fed is going to do things to continue that for the foreseeable future. their tieing it to unemployment, to the unemployment rate saying that until the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, they will keep investing in the economy, creating liquidity to that banks can lend money to people and people can get mortgages at low rates. what they said about the economy, suzanne, is things are generally looking good. they continue to see good economic activity, but they have seen a slowdown in fixed business investment. so that may have something to do with the fiscal cliff. there's a bit of a slowdown there.

the economy is moving along, not as robustly as they'd like it to be, which is why they extend this to make money cheaper. >> what does that mean for businesses in terms of confidence? >> the first gauge we get is to see how markets are doing. there's a bit of a rally on the stock market as a result. you can never trust what happens immediately after these announcements because it could be traders doing things. dow subpoena a quarter there. you can see 27 basis points right now. what it means is the same thing it meant until now. we have long-term low interest rates. it's cheap to borrow money in america. it's not necessarily easy it to borrow money. lending standards are still high, and many businesses as we have seen that either have cash or access to credit are not making decisions until they have some certainty about what government is going to do. we may get that certainty as soon as we get a fiscal cliff deal, maybe january or february by the time we know what will happen. that could work. if everybody knows money is cheap to get, they'll start to invest it. >> nafs my next question real quick here. looking at this move by the fed,

does this help either side with the case of whether or not to go off the fiscal cliff? >> not really. i think those sides are dug in, and the thing to make them decide one way or another is entirely political as opposed to economic. we know it will do economic damage, but i'm not sure that's motivating anybody's decisions right now. i wish it were. >> thank you, ali. just ahead, i continue my conversation with richard branson. he has a bit of advice for the republican party on how to appeal to more people. filling the air ♪ ♪ from ev, [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. like caramel chocolate drizzles. happier holidays. chex party mix. happier holidays. social security are just numbers thinkin a budget.d... well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible...

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he's a billionaire entrepreneur who startsed a hugely successful record company and airline. richard branson has other big challenges on his mind as well including political gridlock and climate change. here's more. >> when you look at how we deal with things in washington, congress and you talk about the president getting things done, do you scratch your head and look at the fact that no one's

really negotiating anything? you have the fiscal cliff, and you have all kinds of gridlock in washington. what do you make of what you see? >> it is very strange. i mean, it could be that somebody should sit down and rewrite the way america runs things, because, you know, while america did this, china moves forward rapidly. other countries are more decisive move forward rapidly. so i think on the fiscal cliff it will get sorted. it would be nice if there could be a bit more decisive leadership. if you run a company, you don't have this -- this horrible problem where you can't make decisions. you can get on and say if i want to get into space, i'll go into space. let's get on and invest in it. if i want to go down to the bottom of the oceans, let's build a submarine that goes to the bottom of oceans. it's a lot easier than running a

country. >> do you blame any particular side? is it all the same to you? >> look, i think i'm slightly biased one way more than the other, but i'm not going to push out 50% of the people watching your program right now. all right. i think that as far as things like climate change, which i happen to believe is an issue, and as far as social issues, which i feel passionately about, i do think that obama in his second term has a chance of really making a difference, and i'm sure some issues that the republicans have, these kinds of issues are not as high a priority for them as perhaps they should be. >> last question. climate change. there's still people who believe that's not really -- that doesn't really exist. that this is not man made but something that happens. how do you convince people it's real? >> well, i mean, i'm not a

scientist. 95% of scientists, 98% of scientists in the world believe it is a man-made problem, and you simply just got in fragile world and buildup of carbon around the world creating this blanket. every year we pump more carbon in, and that makes the blanket thicker all the time. the world is heating up a little bit all the time. simplistically it seems logical. >> we're going to look at life of a musician who taught the beatles athing or two about music. he died yesterday. we'll look at the cultural impact his music had on the world. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away.

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president nelson mandela is doing better. he's recovering from a lung infection. a statement from the south

african president's office says the doctors are satisfied with the way mandela has made progress during the last 24 hours. he was hospitalized over the weekend, and mandela is regarded as the hero of democracy in south africa for his fight against apartheid. he has not made a public appearance since 20 on 10. doctors in cuba finished a six-hour cancer surgery on venezuelan president hugo chavez. he arrived in havana on monday for treatment. you see raul castro greeting chavez there. the vice president said mr. chavez faces a complex and difficult recovery. it's his fourth cancer-related surgery. the socialist leader is expected to spend several days recovering in cuba. legend who helped bridge the gap between eastern and western music is dead. ahead we take a look at the life and the music of ravi shankar. military life is different.

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ravi shankar is being remembered today as one of india's most effective cultural ambassadors. it is beautiful. the legendary musician became famous for his association with the beatles. he died yesterday in southern california after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery last week. the former beatles drummer ringo star had this to say. ravi was a great loss musically, spiritually and physically. god bless to ravi's family. he brought indian classical music to the west appears at '60s rock festivals, woodstock, monterey pop and teaming up with with george harrison to stage the concert for bangladesh back in 1971. he was also the father of jazz

singer nora jones. he was 92. for more insight on his impact on music and culture, we want to bring in anthony decurtis, he's a contributing editor at "rolling stone." thank you so much. he brought an unfamiliar musical sound to the west. how did he manage to do that so successfully? it really was beautiful. >> those were his instincts to try to spread this music. he was a deep believer in it, and in many ways very much a purist with it. on the other hand he was willing to experiment, very open on working with other musicians and very much desirous of bringing this music to the west. he had lived in the west and loved the west and wanted them to share in this music that he believed in so deeply. >> he once told "rolling stones in 1997 it was george harrison brought his music to a younger audience. tell us about that relationship. >> harrison really once told me in an interview that he had turned to ravi shankar because

he had really begun to get confused by the kind of popularity that the beatles were undergoing. it just seemed ridiculous to him in a sense. so when he met ravi shankar, he said i found somebody who was a musical leader and spiritual leader. so he began to explore that music, and then at that point in the mid to late '60s anything the beatles did had a profound impact on every aspect of popular culture. suddenly 1/2vy shankar was a favorite of particular people to being a much bigger phenomenon. >> tell us about the concerts you taenattended in carnegie ha. what was it like to be there in his midst? >> they were extraordinary. ravi shankar is among the handful of greatest performers i've seen in my life. the shows were just electrifying. very much -- i mean, it was aamazing fob in his presence and hear him play music that was meant to really reach you spiritually as well as simply entertain you.

there was a tremendous virtuousity but an amazing image. both were among the most profound in any musical environment. >> anthony, how do you think eebl remembered? >> i think he'll be remembered for the shear quality of what he did. also for being a great ambassador for this music. when we think about things like world music or the west fascination with eastern culture, a lot of that started with ravi shankar. >> all right. thank you. we appreciate it. >> thanks, suzanne. the pope already has more than 700,000 twitter followers. i'm not kidding. he sent his first tweet today. we'll tell you exactly what he wrote. i'm the messenger, by the way. what's your name? joanne. with the hundreds that i save with progressive on my car insurance, this tree is on me. no way. way. this tree is on me. really?! yes. aah! let me just trim it up a little bit for you.

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the wait is over. the pope has tweeted. pope benedict xvi first he tweet reads, dear friends. i am pleased to get in touch

with you through twitter. thank you for your generous response. i bless all of you from my heart. the pope plans to tweet in several languages including spanish and arabic. now, his handle is @pontifx which means bridge builder in latin. the pope had about 700,000 followers. not bad. bracing modern technology is the queen. there are several reports that queen elizabeth will deliver her annual christmas message in 3d. her speech was recorded last friday at buckingham palace and will air christmas day on three uk networks. viewers may need special glasses or 3d tv to actually see these special effects.

second hour. richard branson is gelgt political. we talked about legalizing marijuana and the fiscal cliff and partisan gridlock. a senator that worked across the political divide says so long. joe lieberman gives his farewell speech from the senate floor live this hour. the democrat turned independent look back on almost 24 years in the senate. up first on the terror that happened in an oregon mall that was packed with shoppers. it left three dead including the gunman. a news conference scheduled to guinea minute now. we'll bring it to you live. police evacuated the terrified shoppers from thele mall after a man opened fire. witnesses say he fired at least 20 shots as he worked across the mall. we talked with a macy's employee who actually saw this gunman. >> i was like, oh, my gosh. at that point i was kind of -- i was in such shock where i stood

there, and then as i stood there in shock, time slowed down and everything got slow. after that all i heard was i am the shooter, and then shots rang out. five, six shots. by that time i hit the floor and ran out and started to tell everyone and anyone i saw, there's a shooting going on. don't go in there. pack your kids, your family, and let's get out of here, you know. i don't know what could happen. it was scary. >> dan simon is live outside that mall near portland. dan, what do we expect to hear from this news conference just minutes away? >> reporter: we're expecting authorities to publicly identify the shooter for the very first time. all we know at this point is he is in his early 20s. we don't have a motive. we know that the shooting was apparently random. he didn't target anyone in particular. he came in yesterday 3:30 in the afternoon into the macy's store on the second floor of the mall, sprinted towards the food court area. that's where the shots rang out.

there was pandemonium inside the mall, as you might expect. 10,000 shoppers at the time. we can tell you that the mall is closed today. obviously, not ideal during the middle of this holiday shopping season, but something that obviously needs to occur. we also understand that authorities will release the names of the two people who died during the attack. both adults, one male and one female. that news conference coming up in just a few minutes. in terms of the details of what happened, there was a mall santa who was here. he ducked to the floor. he was taking pictures with children at the time. i want you to listen now to one witness in the mall who described the scene this way. >> people were hiding behind counters and eventually everybody went to the middle of sears on top of the escalators away from all the entrances and everybody could get together and sit there. we actually were watching the

news as it was happening on the tv inside the entertainment center. >> reporter: you know, suzanne, i told you about the mall being closed today. i want to show you something that's kind of interesting. you see all the cars in the parking lot. it's not because these folks are here. it's because when this happened people dropped their belongings and ran. so there are purses, bags, car keys inside the mall. at some point perhaps during this news conference they'll explain the process for shoppers to come back and retrieve their belongings. suzanne. >> dan, i understand, not only two victims were killed but there was a woman wounded. do we know anything about her or her condition today? >> reporter: right. well, her name has been released on social media. we're waiting for authorities to publicly release her name. she is a 15-year-old girl. she took a shot in the chest. apparently she had some surgery but is in stable condition. so she is expected to survive. so that's one good piece of

news, suzanne. >> all right. dann, give us the details when the press conference happens and the new information you learn as soon as you get it. appreciate it. the u.s. is now reacting to an extremely provocative move by north korea. today pyongyang launched a long-range rocket defying the u.s. and other nations that called on north korea to cancel the launch. this is animation of how the rocket looks soaring into space. a u.s. official confirming that the object north korea launched is in orbit. north korea says it's a scientific satellite, but the u.s. believes that the launch is a cover for testing ballistic missile technology. we'll bring in chris lawrence from the pentagon to talk about what does this mean here? what is the significance of this launch? >> suzanne, basically it puts north korea one step closer to developing a long-range missile that could one day carry a nuclear warhead. they have missiles that conceivably have a range to hit alaska or even u.s. bases in

hawaii. u.s. officials i've been speaking with say there's still a gap. in order to try to marry their nuclear program with the missile, even though it was successful in this particular test, because they would still have to try to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to go on top of the missile. they've had no real success with testing a heat shield to get it back into the atmosphere once it leaves, and also working on accuracy issues to be sure that they could actually hit what they were abling at. >> i hear the secretary of defense leon panetta is talking about the concern about this launch. what are the options here that he is suggesting in response to this? >> this is going beyond secretary panetta. this goes up to the white house. it somewhat calls into question the warnings and the sanctions that the obama administration has already put out there on north rolina. it calls into question how effective they have been. a u.s. official said they had

planned to go to the united nations, which met today, to try to get strong wording on condemning this launch. even the threat of additional sanctions on north korea, it really remains to be seen, you know, how much more you could sanction the country, which is already very isolated, especially if you don't have the fullba backing of a country lik china or russia. >> chris, thank you. appreciate it. we learned today there's an american citizen detained in north korea for more than a month now. he's identified as tour operator kenneth bay. south korean papers say bay was detained after crossing into the country with a small group of tourists. one of the tourists reportedly had sensitive information on a computer hard drive, so a u.s. official tells cnn they do not believe that bay is being mistreated by the north koreans. still a lot of questions on that story. sir richard branson, he doesn't sit on ideas.

are you still intent on going to space and leading space tourism? when is that happening? >> i just said i wanted to get high, hadn't i? >> you want to get high, real high. >> i want to get real high, yeah. we're very, very close. >> i talk with branson about his latest mission, plus he's weighing in on the war on drugs and politics. ♪ ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now through december 31st. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease a 2013 e350 for $579 a month

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[ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. we're going to a press conference about the oregon mall shooting that took place yesterday. we're listening to craig roberts, the sheriff here. >> next, i want to describe to you how this event unfolded. at this time we're prepared to release identities of the two individuals killed in the attack, and they are cindy ann yole. she's 54 years of age from northeast portland. and steven matthew forsythe, age 48 of west lind. the third victim, who is now listed in serious condition at ohsu, is a juvenile female named

christina shefchenko. in addition, we're now able to share the identity of the suspect in this case. his name is jacob tyler roberts born march 16, 1990. based on all the evidence that we've fwaergathered so far, it appears he did die of a self-inflikself-i self-inflicted gunshot wound. we're prepared to release additional information about the suspect. during this attack he was armed with an ar-15 semi-automatic rifle. the rifle was stolen yesterday from a person known to the suspect. at the time of the attack, he was wearing a load-bearing vest, not a bulletproof vest, that was earlier reported by some outlets. he was also wearing a

hockey-style face mask, and we've not yet been able to establish how many shots were fired during the attack, although we believe he was carrying several fully loaded magazines. at this time we do not understand the motive of this attack except to say there's no apparent relationship he between the suspect and his victims. after we identified the suspect, we executed a search warrant at his home locate at 7324 southeast 84th avenue in portland. we also conducted a search warrant of his vehicle, which was a 1996 volkswagen jetta found at the clackamas town center parking lot. to protect the integrity of the investigation, we're not going to release the results of the search warrant at this particular time.

next i want to describe to you how this event unfolded. at 3:29 p.m. we received multiple 911 calls reporting that we had an active shooter at the mall. our first unit arrived one minute later at 3:30 p.m. once on scene officers initiate an active he shooter protocol. that's a technique that's developed a deal with precisely this type of threat. law enforcement has learned from past tragedies throughout this country that we can't wait for a s.w.a.t. team, and teams need to deploy immediately. so we train and equip each individual officers to form up in teams as they arrive and move immediately into engaging the threat wherever it might be. now this involves officers from different agencies being thrown together on a short notice, but

everyone did an absolutely aamaamaz amazing job. i want to say that we were also well prepared for this incident because we had practice in active shooter techniques at the clackamas town center this past year, practice just for this type of situation. p now what i want to do is show you how we believe the suspect moved throughout during this incident. so from the information that we have at this time, the suspect pulled his vehicle in front of macy's, parked his car, exited, and moved in a rapid manner toward the food court. a lot of folks reported that he was running and moving quickly. left his car and opened fire in this general area. he ended up striking two victims that both died of their injuries. there were some medical staff and other people that rendered aid.

following this, the individual fled down this -- aalolong this corridor out and down a back hallway down to some stairs, which is actually on the upper level. he came down the stairs to the lower level. in fact, in this corner in where he shot himself. one of the things that we located a victim that was transported to ohsu, this is her. we believe she was up in this area, but she was able to come out through the front macy's, work her way down to near rei. that's where law enforcement officers met with her and she was subsequently transported. over the past 18 hours many people have asked me, you know, why were there so few victims during this incident? first of all, just to make this

really clear, with two people killed and a third critically injured all of us have to recognize this was a heart-breaking tragedy by any standard. many, many people will be affected by this terrible act of violence every day for the rest of their lives, and we should keep them in our thoughts and prayers. on the other hand, i think we all need to be very thankful that this incident wasn't much worse, and i believe it's a combination of factors, several factors that led to this outcome. i want to quickly go over those. one, based on the evidence we obtained it appears that the suspect's rifle did jam while he was attacking individuals in the food court. however, he was able to get the gun working again. clackamas town center had a

lockdown procedure for this type of incident, and they did a great job with that program. three, a large number of police officers arrived on the scene very rapidly curtailing the suspect's ability to move around the mall. they got themselves out of the mall. they helped others get out. there are just a number of heroes that took the time to help people get out, whether it's in a wheelchair, a child. they helped a lot of people get out of that, and it was really about a full growhole group of coming together to make a difference. taking together these four factors, limiting the suspect's access to potential victims and gave him less time to harm others.

i'd like to close by thanking all of our federal and state local law enforcement partners for their extraordinary efforts. several neighboring jurisdictions said as you might have heard, send everybody. they were talking about all the patrol officers for their small city. send them out here to help. >> you're listening to the details unfolding at this mall shooting. we learned about the victims, a 354-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man killed in the mall shooting, a 15-year-old girl in stable condition who was wounded. we have the identity of the alleged shooter as well as, jacob tyler roberts of portland, oregon, 22 years old. that's who the sheriff says shot himself. it's described that he entered the mall with an a-15 rifle, that it was loaded, that he was wearing an ammo vest as well as a kind of hockey-style face mask. that he entered and went from

macy's and through the food court. he went shooting, on a shooting rampage. we understand the only reason why more people were not killed is that his rifle jammed during the attack. there were a lot of police officers that were on the scene immediately, and as the sheriff said, there were 10,000 people who were in that mall at the time of the shooting who managed to get out safely and peacefully and kept a cool head as this shooting occurred. we now have the identification of the shooter as well as the victims, and we have learned that the shooter had shot himself and that there were several factors and reasons why it was that this was not even more tragic and more dire in this mall shooting that happened in oregon yesterday. we'll continue to follow the story as we get more developments throughout the morning and throughout the day. >> i was inside to apply for a job, and next thing i know i see a few people running into sears and away from the middle of the mall saying that they heard

sho shots and there's a shooting going o. i wasn't sure if it was for real at face, until i saw the reaction on their faces that they were serious. you know, one job or the other. the moment i could access the retirement plan, i just became firm about it -- "i'm done. i'm out of here." you know, it's like it just hits you fast. you know, you start thinking about what's really important here. ♪ ♪ it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide,

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billionaire businessman

richard branson thrilled he has a new partner in the skies. delta air lines is buying a he 49% stake in his virgin atlantic airlines. singapore owned it before. it will give delta a bigger share of the new york-to-london flights. branson tweeted the partnership will allow virgin atlantic to give british airways and american airlines a real run for their money. richard branson not afraid to take on the competition or a controversial issue, including the legalization of drugs that he supports. i asked him about the recent votes in colorado and washington state that legalized marijuana use. here's how he weighed in. you made some news about two states that are legalizing marijuana. you believe that this eventally is inevitable and will happen. tell me why. >> i'm on a global commission of drugs. we spent two years examining the war on drugs.

it's bean absolutely apparent to us in the 50 years since the united nations got together to try to, you know, create this war that it's failed. so what the commission is saying, please try different approaches. and on an immediate basis please stop locking up our children, our brothers and sisters. that's not the way to help them. if they have a drug problem, put them through drug rehabilitation, get them well again. the countries that are doing that are having tremendous success in reducing the problem. >> the new president in mexico is saying he's willing to look at different solutions here, and there's a lot of bloodshed with the cartels. it's a very bloody business. legalization, you believe, is the answer? that that's going to turn the violence into something that's not as chaotic and violent? >> let's switch the clock back

to prohibition of alcohol. when alcohol was prohibited in america, al capone and the gangsters existed. all that money went into the underworld. people were being arrested for drinking alcohol. they were being put in prison. the united states realized that that was not a sensible option, and the moment they legalized the taxes went spew healbeau in education. people stopped getting arrested and going to prison. the underworld went away. i think the global drug commission believes that if you take the same approach to say something like marijuana, it's likely to work. what they're saying is that let certain states experiment with it. let's see what happens. but we don't believe that, you know, the health issues of the public will be any worse than they currently are. people can readily get marijuana

anyway almost anywhere. >> let's talk about your expertise in space. what is your next big adventure? are you still intent on going to space and leading space tourism? when is that happening? >> i just said i wanted to get high, didn't i? >> you want to get high, real high. >> i want to get real high, yeah. we're very, very close now. >> how close? what do you mean by real close? >> i would be disappointed if we don't go to space next year, so we're that close. the spaceships are finished now, the motherships are finished and the space board in new mexico is beautiful and all ready to go. we're just finishing our rocket tests, and obviously we have to do lots of rocket tests before we send people up there. i would say by the end of next year we should be ready to go. >> what is the goal? where is the mission? will it take you to the nomoon? is that the idea? >> there's no limit to the sky,

and we're going to start with suboshal flights and go to orbital flights and go to deep exploration flights. i'm sure we'll drop by the moon on the way. >> you're very optimistic. >> if you don't dream, you don't achieve anything. >> more of my interview, visit cnn d cnn.com/suzanne. i sat down with ted turner. we talk about everything from nuclear iran to the fiscal cliff. you're a successful person. you have many different ventures. do you think you should pay more as a wealthy american? do you think you should pay more taxes? >> yes. >> how much? >> you know, whatever's reasonable. >> that interview airing this time tomorrow right here on cnn newsroom.

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opportunities. gratitude to the people of connecticut who have entrusted me with the privilege of public service for 40 years. the last 24 in the united states senate. gratitude to my senate colleagues i've come to know as friends and with whom it has been such an honor to serve. gratitude to all the people without whose help, hard work and support i never would have made it to the senate or stayed here. the gifted and hard-working staff in connecticut and washington who supported and informed and enriched my service here, and the volunteers in my campaigns who gave so much and asked for nothing in return except that i do what i believed was right. gratitude to all those who labor out of view in the corridors of this capitol building, from the maintenance crews to the capitol police and everybody else

anywhere in this building. thank you for keeping our capitol running and keeping us safe. gratitude most of all, of course, to my family for the love, support, and inspiration they've given me every day of my life. my parents, grandparents, and siblings, my children and grandchildren, and hadosa, my wife of almost 30 years now, the love of my life who has been my constant companion, supporter, and partner through this amazing adventure. i want to begin in farewell speech by simply saying, thank you all. i have a lot to be grateful for. but, mr. president, being a senator and since this is my farewell speech, i do have a few more things i'd like to say. i am leaving the senate at a moment in our history when

america faces daunting challenges both domestic and foreign. when too often our problems seem greater than our government's ability to solve them, but i can tell you that i remain deeply optimistic about america's future and constantly inspired by the special destiny that i'm convinced is ours as americans. my optimism is based not in theory or hope but in american history and in personal experience. i think particularly about my te time in public life and especially the changes i witnessed since i took the oath of office as a senator on january 3rd, 1989. the fact is that over the past quarter century america and the world have become freer and more prosperous. the iron curtain was peacefully torn down, and the soviet empire

defeated. the eternal values of freedom and opportunity on which america was founded and for which we still stand have made global gains that were once unimaginable. we've seen the spread of democracy from central europe to southeast asia and from latin america to the middle east. hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty in places like china, india, and just about every other corner of the globe. technic technolo technological advances have transformed almost every aspect of our lives. when i started in the senate, a blackberry was a fruit. >> that was kind of funny. that shows how long it has been, dana. i know you covering the hill, the white house for many years. you can't do that without really having a lot of conversation and

time with joe bieberman. i remember covering the al gore/lieberman race when he lost in 2000 or so. what do you think he's going to be known for? what is going to stand out, his mark on his 24 years? >> reporter: i think there's no question his mark is how unconventional he has been and particularly the way he has straddled both parties. he's now officially independent, as you mentioned. he was a democrat, a life-long democrat so much so he was chosen by al gore to be the democratic party's vice presidential candidate, running mate, and then just six years later in 2006 he was tossed out by democratic voters in the state of connecticut in the primary there because of his unwavering support for the iraq war. then he became an independent, and then two years after that in 2008 i was on the campaign trail with the republican presidential candidate, john mccain, and joe lieberman was there almost every day at his side. of course, then spoke at the

republican national convention. so he definitely, i think, unconventional is the word to describe him. also, you know, somebody who is kind of unabashedly moderate in his approach to working with republicans, working with democrats. i feel like every time somebody who is kind of in the center here decides that they're going to leave, we mourn that only in the fact that it is making this place even more polarized than it already is. i think joe lieberman is a perfect example of that, suzanne. >> what's his next move now? do we know what he plans to do? >> you know, he has children. he has grandchildren. he has a wife who he was just mentioning that he absolutely aadoa ador adores. i would expect him to, even though it's cliche, spend time with his family. he's been a public servant for most of his life. he can make a lot more money than he did here in the united states senate. the other thing about lieberman that probably is important to talk about is that he is as far

as i know the only orthodox jew, certainly the only orthodox jew in the senate. that has made him an even more unconventional senator, because there have been times where he has to work on the sabbath and he lives in georgetown. we're on capitol hill. that is miles and miles away. i don't know exactly how many. it's a very long walk, and he even in the snow or the rain, he had been known to walk to work because orthodox jews don't ride in cars on the sabbath. walked to work on a saturday morning just to be here, and you know, wouldn't ride because that would break the sabbath. that's what he had to do because of his faith that he refused to break, and it certainly made him stand out among the senators because of his jewish faith. >> dana, there are so many things. he really pushed a lot of legislation through in his time. the 9/11 commission and the creation of the homeland security department and the clean act to name a few. what do you think is the

accomplishment that he's most proud of? >> reporter: well, he himself did an interview with candy crowley a couple of weeks ago. he said he's probably most crowd of of creating the homeland security department. he was one of the leaders of doing that. of course, he is, as you know, now the chairman of the homeland security committee. after 9/11 being from connecticut, being sort of a yankee and even somewhat of a new yorker at heart, that was important for him to do. on that note i missed something and i think it's also kind of important in the history of joe lieberman and the genuine tension he'd had with the democratic party. it has been very intense, particularly in recent jeers since i supported john mccain over obama, but he did stick with the democrats to caucus with the democrats even though they threw him out in 2006. it was important because he made sure the democrats had the majority back in 2006. if he didn't do that, democrats would never center taken the majority in the senate again. >> senator joe lieberman making

his mark there. thank you, dana. appreciate it. we'll have more. we'll take a quick break. . really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth!

former first daughter now getting ready for her own little one. jenna bush is expecting and they broke the news on nbc. mom and pop known as former president george w. bush and former first lady laura bush weighed in. listen to this. >> we're just absolutely thrilled. >> hi mom and dad. >> hi, jenna and henry. >> help low. >> hi, popsicle. >> popsicle? >> never mind. >> we are breaking news this morning. mr. president, you obviously are going to be a first time grandfather. how excited are you about this happening? >> yeah, i'm fired up and looking forward to it. i'm excited for jenna and henry, and you know, it's a -- i can barely contain the news when i found out. so now i can tell all my

buddies. >> you told a couple people. but that was okay. >> the former president joked he's not going to change diapers and he'd like to be called sir. the baby is due in the spring. congratulations to them both. your taxes go up in 2013 if republicans and democrats don't come up with a plan. we'll hear from the people up next. >> everybody needs to compromise. everyone needs to meet in the middle. we need an agreement. let's get it done. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future.

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council have condemned this launch clearly and swiftly as a clear violation of u.n. security council resolutions 1718 and 1874. this launch comes only eight months after this council unanimously adopted a presidential statement making clear that any launch using ballistic missile technology, no matter how north korea chooses to characterize it, is, in fact, a serious violation of two security council resolutions. >> we're also following that shooting that occurred yesterday in an oregon mall. this is the latest information that we have from ofishes. they have identified the shooter as jacob tyler roberts, born march 16th, 1990. that makes him approximately 22 years old. according to officials, police say he shot himself as police converged on him in the mall. first, he actually came to the

mall and went to the macy's and the food court, shot the victims now being identified as steve forsythe, 45 years old, and cindy an yule, 54 years old. the sheriff said that the shooter here identified as jacob tie he ler roberts armed himself with an ar-15 semi-automatic rifle. he had several fully loaded magazines that he was also wearing what seemed to appear a hoig-style face mask and ammo vest. the sheriff says the rifle actually jammed during the shooting spree, which could have saved some lives. he also said that there were a large number of police that quickly came to the scene and 10,000 people remember able to get out of the mall peacefully and quietly while all of this was going on. the sheriff also says they do not have a motive and do not believe that the suspect there, jacob tyler roberts, knew his

very mani victims. we'll follow this story with more details, but that is the very latest. republicans and democrats continue to battle over how to aavoid this fiscal cliff. many of us and many of you standing behind the president when asked who was handling the crisis better, 49% support president obama and the democrats while only 25% support house speaker john boehner and the republicans. so if there's no deal and the tax hikes and spending cuts take effect, we feel the impact. christine romans sat down with this panel for a report on the bottom line. here's part of the conversation she had with a working mom, small business owner and a woman looking for work. >> i have a household to run. still have rent and bills to pay, and i need help. i need help. >> three kids? >> yeah. >> how old are your kids, 23, 18, and 11. >> what do you tell them when they see the economy in front of them and hear all this fighting in washington about the fiscal

cliff. you've been looking for a job for more than six months now. are you more optimistic or less than things will turn around next year? >> i believe it's going to turn around. it will probably take a little time, but i think it will. >> you need the government to help now until that happens? >> yes, i definitely do. >> you just had a baby. congratulations. >> thank you. >> are you concerned about your kid's future in all of this? >> i am. i mean, my biggest concern is that i leave my son with more burdens. i want him to have as many opportunities as he can to be successful in the future, and my concern is that, you know, he's going to be burdened by the entitlements that we're leaving him due to the older generations. i want to make sure he has a clean slate and he's a successful citizen and can do as much as he can. i'm worried. i think america needs to address this entitlement issue. for my son i would be willing to postpone when i receive my entitlements. >> your sacrifice would be you would work longer to make sure

that the children being born today are going to be able to have some sort of insurance and security? >> exactly, yes. >> you know, it's interesting. the voice at the table when we talk about all these things now is not the 5-month-old who will have no voice when you talk about $16 trillion in debt. jeff, so what does it take to get someone like alicia hired? >> i think that the economic underpinnings underpinnings require some security and some long-term stability. it is not enough for congress to come along and say, okay, we have decided on this deal for 2013. i think the political class is loving this attention. we're all sitting here on pins and needles and bated breath waiting for they on high to decide our futures. it would be really nice if we could get back to the point where we say here is the rates,

here is the appreciation, here is the withholding, and let the rest of us go do what we're supposed to do, which is help alicea get a job. >> students protest for healthy school lunches. they actually get what they asked explains how next. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting.

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something this delicious could only come from nature. new nectresse. the 100% natural no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. new nectresse. sweetness naturally. ♪ we are hungry all right, so after these students made this youtube video complaining about school lunches, the usda reversed itself. schools can offer grilled chicken sandwiches, celery sticks with peanut butter. elizabeth cohen is here to explain it. remind our viewers what this was about, they were hungry, falling

over. >> i laugh every time i see that video. i've seen it 100 times and has gotten more than a million views on youtube. lots of people are watching it. i talked to the kids in the video. and they said, look, our favorite foods have been taken off the plate. let me give you an example. under the new rules that went into effect at the beginning of the school year, you could not have this because the chicken on the grilled chicken sandwich and the peanut butter meant for dipping the celery sticks in, made for too much protein. they had to take the peanut butter off. kids were mad. >> and hungry. >> and hungry, right. you couldn't have this either because the garlic bread and pasta made for too many grains, too many servings of grains, so they took the garlic bread off the plate and then kids are mad. one kid was almost in tears. high school boy was almost in tears. i want my garlic bread. so now the obama administration has reversed it and you can serve these foods. you still have to have strict calorie counts, but you can serve these. >> is this a good thing or bad thing? have they improved now that they

have more food on the plate? it is not bad food, right? >> even the nutritionists so gung ho, they're, like, this is fine. this is fine because, again, still really strict calorie limits on the food, can't go over a certain number, they have to have more whole grains and more fruits and vegetables. this was a tweak that the usda did to make everyone happy. >> score one for both sides. >> there you go. >> thank you, elizabeth. appreciate it. an asteroid buzzes past earth, no one notices. why there wasn't a warning next hour.

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